‘Fire Country’ Star Kevin Alejandro Previews Manny Stepping Up as a Leader Amid Changes at Station 42 (Exclusive)

Station 42 is seeing some changes following Vince’s death on Fire Country, and Kevin Alejandro spoke to PopCulture.com about what to expect.

In “Not a Stray,” airing on Friday at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, “Station 42 faces a high-stakes wildfire situation that tests their unity, leadership and personal resilience.”

Additionally, “The new battalion chief (Shawn Hatosy) is on site, but he has a polarizing leadership style that gets under everyone’s skin.” The Emmy winner was previously spotted on the set of Fire Country, but at the time, it was unknown what his role would be. Last week’s season premiere revealed that he is playing Brett Richards, a firefighter who Vince did not like. And to make things even worse, he’s made 42’s new interim battalion chief. Between him joining the station and everyone still in mourning, 42 is going through it. And that will continue in this week’s episode.

“I can preview that you’re gonna start to see how Station 42 mourns and deals with the death of Battalion Chief Leone and the impact that he actually had on us,” Alejandro said. “You also see a new character come in played by Shawn Hatosy, who’s sort of a newly appointed temporary battalion chief, sort of assess us. He does things way differently than Vince does, which affects all of us in a way where we’re not used to this kind of world.”

“And Manny gets to step up in the position of reminding them who we are and what Vince left behind. And together, we will accomplish everything,” he continued. “So, even though he’s mourning himself, he steps up to that leadership responsibility of, like, ‘Guys, we’re a team. Let’s get through this. Remember what Vince gave us.’”

Alejandro’s Manny Perez is no stranger to stepping up as a leader, as he was once the captain of Three Rock. However, navigating this new normal for 42 is different, but like always, “Manny leads with his heart, and he wears emotions on his sleeve,” the Lucifer alum shared. “What you see is what you get. You know how he’s feeling. And I think it’s handled the exact same way. It’s like he doesn’t have a choice but to step up. He doesn’t know any other way than to step up. Vince was like a brother to him, and he’s highly mourning him.”

“But he knows that Vince left behind a son and a wife,” he explained. “So, he’s there for them the way that Vince was there for him and his family. He blindly jumps in to be there for everyone else. Who knows whether or not he’s being there for himself and what he goes through, but he’s definitely gonna be for you, the audience, and you, the character, to lean on.”

Vince’s death is not all that Manny is dealing with. At the end of the Season 4 premiere, his daughter Gabriela (Stephanie Arcila) revealed to Bode that she is going to be speaking at recruiting events across the country.

“I think because he’s dealing with so much right now, that might be one of the things that’s revealed later of how that’s truly affecting him,” Alejandro shared. “But first and foremost, he’s so proud of her. So he has to deal with that. He needs her to grow. And now I think, he’s gonna have to try and assess how he’s gonna grow without her.”

Then there’s also putting the pieces of Three Rock back together. The camp was destroyed by the fires in the Season 3 finale, but Eve reveals in the Season 4 premiere that flowers are beginning to bloom again, meaning that slowly but surely, the camp will make a comeback. Just don’t expect it to be so easy.

“It’s a struggle,” Alejandro said. “There’s a lot of red tape that the characters have to go through to make this happen. It is going to be tough. To me, our show isn’t the same show without the orange. I think Three Rock is such an intricate and important factor to our show. So you are definitely going to see it come back, but it’s not gonna be easy. And it’s gonna look different, but it’s gonna feel fresh, and it’s gonna feel familiar all at the same time.”

There will be a lot to look forward to this season on Fire Country, so don’t miss a new episode on Friday at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, following Sheriff Country.